Laying foundations
George Finnegan, along with partners Vincent O'Farrell and Jim Donovan, have acquired a run-down Georgian property on Dublin's Lansdowne Road. Work is in progress to convert it into Butler's, a 21-bed hotel where the emphasis will be on quality and service. If all goes to plan, the hotel should open early next year.
Number 44 Lansdowne Road is in a terrible state. The back wall has been demolished, half the roof has been ripped off, staircases are crumbling and the front door bears the warning "danger".
But George Finnegan could not be more delighted. "It's great," he exclaims. "By September I will be able to walk through the whole building. I can already visualise where every bathroom and room will be."
Finnegan's excitement is contagious. It has already spread to the team that is slowly being assembled to run the dilapidated property which, by the end of the year, will have been transformed into Butler's hotel.
He has struck up a good working relationship with Derek Murphy from architects Philip Staunton & Co, who has embraced Finnegan's concept of creating a high-quality, country house hotel in the city centre.
A designer, too, is to be appointed, with a brief to create an Upstairs Downstairs atmosphere, from the fabrics right down to the last piece of crockery.
Front of house staff are also being assembled. General manager will be Helen Ryan, currently deputy general manager at nearby Longfield's where Finnegan is general manager. And marketing has taken an early priority with the part-time appointment of Mary Mannix, former sales and marketing manager of the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.
When all recruitment is complete, Butler's will have 14 staff - a high number for a 21-bed hotel where the only meals served will be breakfast and afternoon tea. This will give Finnegan a wages-to-turnover ratio of 25% compared with an average of about 21% for other similar operations.
Despite the high costs involved, Finnegan is determined to maintain this level of staffing. "If you're going to use quality and service as your key differentiators then you need sufficient manpower to do it. I'm not in favour of multi-skilling. I want individuals to perform first-class tasks in their own areas."
There is excitement, too, on hearing the news that Butler's has already received its first business - a six-day stay worth £23,500 by a group attending the World Epilepsy Conference to be held in Dublin next June. Delegates are already familiar with Longfield's and are consequently keen to try out Butler's.
Individuals are also beginning to find out about the new development, and Ryan and Mannix have fielded about 40 enquiries from regulars of Longfield's keen to be among the first to experience Butler's.
In addition, Finnegan has signed up tour operators Cresta, Crystal, Thomsons, AT Mays and Osprey, offering them deals of 20-25% below rack rate.
Finnegan is delighted to have this business, but stresses that from May to October he does not want more than 10-20% of rooms to come from this source. And apart from the tour operators there will be no discounting and no further deals. It's rack rate only, he insists.
Even the mention of the renewed IRA campaign of violence cannot dampen Finnegan's enthusiasm. "Of course it's a concern," he says. "The irony is that we've spent the past two years promoting the island of Ireland and now the troubles have returned tourists will find it difficult to differentiate between the North and the South. But it's out of my control."
While waiting for Butler's to gain a roof and a back wall, Finnegan is turning his hand to details. One pressing job is to design a logo to promote the name Butler's. Originally, Finnegan had wanted the hotel to be called Halcyon, after the concept Halcyon Days. But he soon became convinced that this was not the right thing for Dublin. "It was too modern. Dublin is still lagging behind London, and Halcyon would not have been right." After considering Brownes, Blakes, the Time Piece and the Rectory, Finnegan and his colleagues finally hit on Butler's.
Design firm Graphic HQ is working on a logo to reflect Finnegan's ideas.
To ensure that everyone else in the team also understands the concept, Finnegan is planning a trip to London, along with Ryan, the Butler's designer and partners O'Farrell and Donovan. The idea is to visit a selection of London hotels that Finnegan admires and highlight the elements that make them successful. This eclectic mix will then form the basis of Butler's. Caterer promises to tag along when this visit takes place.
Next visit to Butler's: 29 August
